Primary electric battery.



G. A. LUTZ.

PRIMARY ELECTRIC BATTERY. APPLICATION FILED MARJZ. |915.

1,163,163, Patented De.|7,1915.

.LLLLLLLJA k' atto ne.

well known Gordon battery.

f un e GEORGE A. LUTZ, OF CRANFORD, NEW JERSEY.

PRIMARY ELECTRIC BATTERY.

arcaica.l

Application led March 22, 1915.

T all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A.`LUTZ, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Cranford, in the county of Union and Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Primary Electric Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

ln primary batteries of the caustic soda or caustic potash type, utilizing a depolarizer in a granular or powdered form,. such as cupric oxid, it has been. customary, as known to me, to place such depolarizer in a perforated retainer, such as in the The perforations in the retainer, however, have usually been of such area as to permit the liner lparticles of the depolarizerv to sift through, so that losses of depolarizer occur in transporting and handling such retainers, and the depolarizer also is more or less .li able to sift through the retainer and lodge in the bottom of the battery jar in use. 1 ln -Letters Patent Nos. 812,504 and n 812,505 granted to Charles E. Lockwood and myselfllebruary 13, 1906, a binder is disclosed either miXed with the depolarizer or applied upon the perforated container or in the perforations thereof, intended to over- 1 come the disadvantages above mentioned and to permit the charged retainers to be transported and handled without permitting the depolarizer to sift through the perforations-of the retainers, which binder becomes dissolved in the battery solution, but the perforations in the retainer were of the character described with respect to the Gordon batteries, and of such area that in the absence of the binder the ner particles of the depolarizer would tend to sift through the perforations in the retainer and be liable to be lodged upon the bottom of the battery liar in use.

The object of my present invention is to provide a container or retainer for such depolarizer for use in primary batteries of the caustic soda or caustic potash type, but made in such form as to enable the binder referred to lto be dispensed'with when desired, and yet to prevent the finer particlesof the depolarizer from sifting through the container, while at the same time permitting access of the caustic solution or electrolyte metal havingsuficient strength and rigidity Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

Serial No. 16,232.

to support the positive element or Zinc without injury to the container. To this end I provide a metallic container for the depolarizer having its Walls provided with minute crevices, cracks or slits, longer than wide, and of such narrowness as to practically preclude the particles of the depolarizer within the container from sifting therethrough, yet permitting the entrance therethrough of the battery solution or electro lyte, whereby the container charged with the depolarizer maybe shipped and handled without danger' of the depolarizer sifting through the same, and may be used in'the battery jar without danger of the depolarizer becoming'deposited.upon the bottom of the jar. The blanks from which the pervi' ous metallic container are to be made may be provided with impervious margins around the crevices or minutely slitted portions thereof, to enable adjacent edges of the blank to be rolled or soldered together, as well as to enable similar' connection of one or more closures at the end yor ends thereof, as in the nature of forming tin cans.

-The metal of which "lmy improved con. tainer may be made is tb be of such a character that the material thereof adjacent to its slitted portions will have suiiicient rigidity or resilience as to tend to remain in the normal set position and not be subject to displacement when handled or abused. `I prefer a metal which will not disturb the desired working relation of the battery but which will afford the advantages abovestated, for which purpose I find sheet iron or copper to be most efficient', since such metal affords the desired electro-chemical reactions and has sullicient strength and resilience and yet can be made sufficiently thin for the purpose of such batteries as to enable the positive element or zinc to be supf ported thereon, and, by means of suitable inalford the desired substantial and efficient construction. If a 'ductile soft or yielding metal, such as lead, were used for the pervious container or wall of my improved battery, the objection would be found that such container orwall would be subject to distortion or injury in handling, with the objection 4that the crevices may be either opened too much or closed too tight by displacement of the metal surrounding the slitted portions of the container or Wall, or the containerl might become unduly crushed, and, furthermore, such ductile or similar soft metal would not properly preserve the contour of the container in transportation or handling, since distortion of the container or wall would tend to displace the proper relation of the zinc thereto, with the consequent decrease of efficiency of the battery. Such soft metal container or wall, when made of proper thinness for a caustic battery of the type herein set forth, would notJ have the desired rigidity and strength to properly support and retain the insulating blocks upon which the zinc element rests or is carried. Such lead container would have too high a resistance and too low conductivity for the purpose of my invention in a caustic battery solution. 1

My invention further comprises novel details of improvement and combinations of parts that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein,

Figure 1 is a vertical section of a primary battery embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is jan enlarged detail illustrating a blank for forming my improved container; VF ig. 3 is a detail of a portion of Fig. 2 on an exaggerated scale; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4, 4, in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5, 5, in Fig.'3, and Fig. 6 is a section on an exaggerated scale on the line 6, 6, in Fig. 3.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

The jar l, itsl insulating cover 2, the zinc 3, the insulating support 4 for the zinc, its retaining band 4a, andthe binding post 5 may all be of any usual or suitable construction in this class of battery. The container or wall 6 for the depolarizer 7, such as cupric oxid in granular form, is shown in cylindrical form provided With the closures 8, 821 at the respective ends of the container, and said container is shown provided with an inner cylinder or -wall 9 secured between the closures 8, 8a. The container is shown supported within the jar by the rod 10 passing through the closures 8, 8, and cover 2, and connected with the binding post 5 in a usual manner, and the depolarizer 7 is shown located in the space between such cylinders. The walls of such cylinders are provided with numerous minute crevices, cracks or slits 6, which are formed by pressing aside or cracking the metal of the blanks from which the cylinders are made, without dislodging the material of the blanks -therefrom, whereby webs 6b are forced slightly aside from the plane of the body of the material, producing minute crevices or cracks longer than wide, rendering the completed cylinder or container pervious to the passage of the battery solution or electrolyte, such crevices, however, being so minute as to impede or prevent the sifting therethrough of particles of the depolarizer 7. In the arrangement shown, the crevices or cracks are illustrated in rows, the ends of such crevices or cracks of one row breaking joints with the ends of the crevices or cracks on opposite sides thereof. The connecting pieces 6F between the corresponding crevices of one row are shown staggered with relation to the pieces (3 of the rows of crevices on opposite sides thereof, leaving uncut metal between the pieces 6 and tlie opposing crevices. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 an imperforate margin Gd is provided in the olank outside of the crevices or slits 6a, whereby two such margins 6d of the blank may be rolled or soldered together to form the walls of the container or the cylinders 6, 9, thereof, and to enable the edges of the closures 8 to be rolled or soldered in conjunction with an impervious edge 6d (Fig. l), as well as prominute crevices, should be of such a character as to afford a low internal resistance and at the same time have sufficient strength and rigidity as well as elasticity or resilience, to properly resist displacement of the metal surrounding the slits or cause the return to normal configuration after temporary distortion so that the crevices will not j become unduly opened or closed during handling 'or transportation, or by strain incident to the support of the positive element or Zinc, affording also proper means to secure the insulating blocks 4 to the container or wall for the maintenance of the zinc in proper relation or spacing with respect to the impervious or slitted container or wall. As before stated, a metal, such as sheet iron or copper, may be used for said container or wall to produce the improved results aforesaid. lVere a ductile metal, such as lead, used for my improved pervious container or wall, the objections would be found that such metal was of a higher internal resistance. than desired. and that such 'ductile metal would readily permitthe displacenient of the material surrounding the slits, either tending to open the slits or close them too much, with the consequent undesired increase of How of electrolyte through the open slits or decrease of iow of .electrolyte through the closed slits, thereby, varying the action of the depolarizer and producing uneven consumption of the active materials. Furthermore, by the use of the slitted sheet iron or copper for the container, I am enabled to pack the cupric oXid depolarizer 7 in the container to a suitable extent, Without danger of displacing the material surrounding the slits thereof, Whereas if a soft or ductile metal, such as lead, were used for the slitted container, and the depolarizer were packed therein,A there would be danger that the metal surrounding such slits would be displaced or pressed away during the packing, with danger of opening or closing the slits too much, producin not only disadvantages in the use of the ce l above pointed out, but enabling the more ready sifting out of the depolarlzer from the container, either in transportation or in use, with the consequent disadvantages of loss of depolarizer in transportation, depositing of depolarizer in the bottom of the jar or adjacent to the lpositive element on the insulating blocks,

and producing undesiredlocal action. My improvements serve to avoid the objections last named, since the container isconstructed of sufficiently rigid material having the electrical properties herein referred to and desired in this form of battery, utilizing a cupric oxid depolarizer and a caustic potafi or caustic soda electrolyte. By means of my improvements I obtain full advantage oi' the useof granular cupric oXid as a depolarizer and am enabled to use such a depolarizer containing very fine particles which may be obtained most readily and at a relatively 'cheap cost, Without the disadvantages which have been incident to re-charging the containers at places Where used, or the trouble and expense of applying a binder to the container or Wrapping the same in paper or the like to prevent discharge of the depolarizer therefrom during transportation.

A further advantage of my improvements is that my improved container or wall may be made cheaper than the Wellknown perforated containers heretofore used in caustic batteries, such as in batteries of the Gordon t e.

yIA further advantage of my improvements is that all the metal intended for the wall or container is preserved for coaction with the depolarizer, as distinguished from the loss of 'surface entailed by reason of removing the metal at the perforations.

Having now described my invention what I claim is 1. A primary battery element comprising a metal container having a plurality of. mii nute crevices adapted to permit the passage of an electrolyte through the crevices, and to prevent the discharge of a depolarizer through said crevices, said metal having greater conductivity than lead, and having sufficient rigidity to resist displacement of the material surrounding the crevices.

2. A primary battery element comprising a container formed of metal having a higher conductivity and being more rigid and resilient than lead, and provided with a plurality of minute crevices adaptedv to permit the passage of an electrolyte through said crevices and to prevent the discharge of a depolarizer through said crevices.

3. A primary battery element comprising a sheet iron container having a plurality of slits forming minute crevices adapted to permit the passage of an electrolyte through said crevices and to prevent the discharge of a depolarizer through said crevices.

4. A primarybattery element comprising a plurality of spaced metal Walls having closures at their ends, said Walls being formed of metal having greater conductivity and greater rigidity and resilience than lead, said walls having slits providing minute crevices adapted to permit the passage of an electrolyte through said crevices and to prevent the discharge of a depolarizer through said crevices.

5. A primary battery comprising a jar, a Wall therein formed of metal having greater conductivity than lead, said wall having a plurality of slits providing minute crevices adapted to permit the passage of an electrolyte through said crevices, said wall having sufficient rigidity to resist displacement of the metal surrounding said crevices, a cupric oXid depolarizer in granular form retained by said Wall, said crevices being adapted to prevent discharge therethrough of said depolarizer, insulating means to support a positive element adjacent to said wall, and an alkaline solution Within the Signed at New York city, in the county -o New York, an'd State of New York, this 19th v day of March, A. D. 1915.

GEORGE A. LUTZ. lVitnesses T. F. BOURNE, Mams F. VVAINRIcr-rr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, I). C. 

